Solemn Hour
by dw77
Summary: Seven Years have passed since Lelouch was betrayed by the Black Knights, and he ad others were trapped on Kaminejima by the storm that arose after Ragnarok failed; Outside the storm the world has gone to hell, ruled by the tyranny of Schneizel, on Kaminejima the survivors have built a village and are living their lives, but this doesn't mean Lelouch is happy trapped there.
1. Chapter 1

April 22th 2026 ATB

As the sun peeked over the raging grey wall surrounding Kaminejima its rays filtered down to illuminate two forms, one with ebony hair that consumed the light and the other with verdant green flaring in the light as they stood at the mouth of a cave overlooking the ramshackle village of Haven on the slopes below them. The former Black Knight soldiers mixing freely with the stranded soldiers of Britannia as the Eye wall of the Maelstrom howled mere miles from shore. It wasn't much but in the face of adversity the surviving soldiers had made peace with one another had had built a small village, a small microcosm that epitomized Nunnally's dream. With the help of C.C.'s centuries of knowledge, the people of Haven had started farms on the island and had even begun to build families in the seven years since the Maelstrom had left them trapped on the island.

"C.C. Where are the other pots?" Lelouch groused as he spied only one of his usual three pots of alcohol already half a week late.

"Lelouch, you should spend less time in C's world and that cave of yours and more time down in the village, they need you just as much as they need Suzaku or I." C.C. commented as she passed the pot of Island Moonshine to the shaggy and disheveled twenty five year old.

"Hardly, because of the two of you, the villagers have managed to both grow their own crops and hunt to get their meat, I haven't done anything for them since I stopped them from going at each-others throats seven years ago, besides, as long as I have my privacy and my booze I don't give a damn what they think of me. Speaking of..."

"They think you're a man of God."

"What!?"

"The kids call you the 'Creepy Cave Wizard'" C.C. smiled as she drew a reaction different from his usual morose self pity. It had been too long since he had expressed anything other than that or raging anger.

"Regardless, Why are you late with my alcohol and why is there only one?"

"I need you sober so you can preside over Larry and Aiko's wedding this weekend." C.C. said as she stepped back and observed Lelouch's reaction.

"Oh." Lelouch responded as he let his vision drift off toward the farms to the south before the meaning registered and he quickly re-initiated eye contact "What!"

"I promised Larry and Aiko you would perform the ceremony, they were very adamant about it." C.C. commented

"And why did you make a promise on my behalf? Never mind, I know why Aiko figured out how to make a Pizza." said as understanding dawned on his face.

"I'll have you know Aiko can't cook to save her life."

"Then why?"

"Larry did." C.C. responded "It's true what they say, Absence does make the heart grow fonder, each bite was a taste of heaven."

Pinching the bridge of his nose Lelouch resisted the urge to tear into C.C. for that, "Why, might I ask, do they want me to marry them?"

"Like I said, to them you are a man of the cloth, and Aiko wants to be married by the closest thing she has to a priest."

Lelouch looked at the pot he held in his hand before heading back to the cave and commenting "It's a shame, this should have lasted me another three days."

* * *

><p>April 25 2025 ATB<p>

"Captain Ohgi, I order you to take the the Ikaruga into the storm." Tohdoh roared at him as he and the few remaining KMFs of the Black Knights fought to defend the damaged stealth battleship.

"But it's almost certain death!" Ohgi responded hesitant to throw the ship into one of the eight deadly storms. The past seven years since they had turned on Lelouch had been nothing but a series of disasters, as Schneizel broke his word and placed the world under a reign of terror. So many people had died from each of his decisions, that three years ago he resigned his position as the leader of the Black Knights as the pressure got to him.

"Damn it Ohgi just do as Tohdoh says!" Kallen screamed at him over the comm "I'll take almost certain death over certain death any day!"

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Ohgi muttered under his breath before shouting orders to head for the Kaminejima Maelstrom.

* * *

><p>"Sir? Why aren't we following them?" Navigator Jones asked of his commander, as they ad the rest of the bridge crew of the BAS Caerleon observed the Black Knight KMFs retreat to the wounded Ikaruga as it neared the whirling vortex ahead of them.<p>

"Tell me Jones, would you jump off a bridge if your enemies were?" Commodore Aloysius (self-styled "the Vicious") Fitzroy asked of his subordinate continuing without letting the man speak "No Ensign, you wouldn't, you toss a grenade after them and then take cover. Now with that in mind Lieutenant Briggs, If I were you I would continue our barrage unless I wished to become a part of said barrage." he phlegmatically spat at his cowering Fire Control Officer.

"Yessir your Viscousness!" Lieutenant Briggs muttered as he scrambled to get to work before smiling at his small slight against his commander.

Commodore Fitzroy reclined into his chair as he watched the lance of hadron energy fire at the fleeing ship, though the blast broke through the shields and hit the vessel with a glancing blow the commodore smiled, surely Emperor Schneizel would reward him for finally wiping out these irksome Black Knights.

* * *

><p>Rakshata Chawla was sitting down in the hangar with her subordinates in engineering the noise of Knightmare Maintenance drowning out nearly every sound in the room; but for all she cared she could have been in a sound proof room. She was enraptured by the data she was getting from the ship's sensor array, so many vessels and aircraft had been lost without a trace trying to investigate the Eight Great Storms and here she was actually getting readings from Zero's Wrath! The windspeed and rainfall readings weren't what had her attention though, no it was the energy readings; the electromagnetic spectrum was fluctuating chaotically just within the storm.<p>

Acting on a hunch she quickly brought up a program on her computer and performed a real time Fourier on the data she was receiving and there it was, despite all the other frequencies on the graph shifting rapidly, hidden amongst all the noise was a frequency signature almost identical to the Gefjun disturber at an amplitude far greater than she had ever seen before.

Her mind reeling with the implications Rakshata reclined on her lounge only to be knocked to the floor as the Ikaruga shook from a hit, Ohgi's voice soon came over the intercom in the suddenly quietened room "Rakshata can you divert power from the disturbers to the shield?"

"Not if you want to survive this storm." Chawla drawled

"Why not?" the question followed soon after.

"Because sending all the power in the world to the shields wouldn't make any difference."

* * *

><p>Dressed in cleaner clothes than he usually wore Lelouch was delighted that the ceremony and the reception were finally over and he could get back to his cave; though having C.C. and Suzaku tag along didn't leave him in the best of moods.<p>

"I thought the ceremony was beautiful Lelouch." C.C. started.

"You could have been a priest instead of a revolutionary." a drunken Suzaku agreed with the witch as he lugged the gift the newlywed couple gave Lelouch as thanks for his services: a small cart load of pots and barrels full of island whiskey and three pizzas that C.C. was casually partaking of as the trio made their way up the slope.

"I do get the feeling you were making it up as you went along," C.C. Commented

"What could have ever given you that impression?" Lelouch replied sarcastically as he looked over his shoulder at the green haired witch.

C.C. began to rattle off her list, "Where to begin? Tying their wrists together, Celtic, reciting seven blessings, Judaic though I should note you didn't get any of them right, Poor Joshua Jellenik flinched his way through that part, and I don't even know where you got that mirror part from..."

"Does it really matter?" Lelouch said as he turned around "At any rate why are you eating my food..." he trailed off as he saw the sigil adorned prow of a very familiar ship break through the eyewall of the storm.

"Hardly, this pizza is clearly my commission for my brokerage services." C.C. said before noticing she had walked past the man she was addressing. "What's got your... Oh my."

Hearing this Suzaku turned around and quickly sobered up at the sight. The Ikaruga had come through, it was damaged but it was in Kaminejima's airspace. "Run Lelouch, get to the cave and if anyone comes in escape into C's world. Stay safe." with that Suzaku shot back down to haven at top speeds followed by C.C. lagging a short distance behind with one of the pizzas.

Standing there next to the cart for a moment Lelouch could only stare before he made up his mind. "Like hell am I leaving this here for just anyone to take." With that Lelouch began the arduous process of pushing the cart up the hill to his cave.

* * *

><p>Viletta sat in her living room reading her six year old daughter Chigusa a story, when a breaking news bulletin blasted out of the television, smashing her heart to pieces.<p>

**"This just in: In a battle just outside of the Kaminejima Typhoon, Commodore Aloysius Fitzroy sank the Ikaruga; this victory marks the final destruction of the Black Knights which seven years ago under the command of the mysterious terrorist Zero nearly pushed Britannia out of Japan. Stay tuned for more details as they come in."**

It was all Viletta could do to keep from crumpling to the ground in a fetal position as she began sobbing both for Ohgi and for her daughter who would grow up without her father.

"What's wrong Mommy? Why are you crying? Mommy?"

* * *

><p>AN: so a few things... Yes a few years have passed (7 to be precise), and I haven't exactly explained what is happening. And yes in the absence of having a chance to take over Britannia Lelouch has largely receded into himself and has become a drunkard, he really doesn't have much to live for.  
>AN2: fot those of you who don't already know how, and were upset when you couldn't translate stories with Google or anything, just change the part of the URL to , Google can still translate that.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry about the absurdly long time it has taken me to update any of my stories, Life has been busy with my search for gainful employment among other things. But without further procrastinating on the subject I give you Solemn Hour chapter 2.

* * *

><p>Everyone on the bridge of the Ikaruga were stunned, the last time they had been to Kaminejima it was a battlefield. Shinichiro Tamaki was the first to overcome the shock of seeing a village sitting on the slopes leading away from the beach.<p>

"What is that!" he exclaimed as Rakshata strolled onto the bridge with Kallen following a short distance behind

"It would appear to be a village." was the calm response from the Indian scientist before silence once more eclipsed the remaining leadership of the Black Knights. What they had expected to see was the aftermath of a battle, rusting wrecks of KMFs strewn across the shore and forests of the island. instead they were greeted by a small village, homes built from a combination of the natural elements of the island and the former machines of war. Instead of a recovering forest they saw men and women working in fields and children playing on the shores. Simple roads stretched away from the village running along the shores of Kaminejima as well as up the volcano to a cave. where a cart with three people were heading. It took further prodding from Rakshata to spur the men and women into action. "Are you all just going to stare at it or are we setting down?"

With that the crew burst into a flurry of activity as orders were shouted and landing procedures began. Once everyone was doing their jobs again Kallen whispered "Could it be?" Kaminejima was the last place anyone had seen Lelouch. Over the past seven years she wondered exactly what if anything Lelouch meant when he told her to live. Now she wondered again; Was he here? Did he survive? Having nothing to do on the bridge other than observe, eyes darting around the village searching, her eye being drawn towards the cart headed up the slope as two people broke off from it and ran back to the village, quickly writing it off, Lelouch would never have been able to pull that alone. She stood there watching as a crowd built up on the shore and the Ikaruga pulled in to land in the shallows.

* * *

><p>C.C. trailed behind Suzaku as he cut a path through the crowd that had gathered on the shore, listening to the chatter and gossip surrounding her. The children chattering about how "cool!" or "awesomu!" the ship was, asking their parents if they knew what it was named, other adults speaking about finally being able to see their families again, while the remainder feared what had become of the world they had been sundered from seven years prior. However as <em>interesting<em> as it was to listen to the people she had taught how to survive gossip, the damage to the once proud Ikaruga was disturbing. The patchwork repairs coating the warship almost made her look like a giant metal quilt, while more recent damage remained in the form of gaping holes. It was a miracle that the vessel hadn't gone down. Even more troubling was the fact that the Ikaruga had to escape into a hurricane to escape its pursuers. However the sound of pneumatics quickly snapped her out of her revery and she soon spotted a several familiar faces '_I haven't seen them in what feels like a week or two.'_

Scanning over the collection of faces C.C. only saw four anomalies in the field of stoic expressions and wandering gazes, the least interesting; Rakshata Chwala was bored, but the other three, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, Kaname Ohgi, and Kallen Kozuki were searching for something or _someone...  
><em>  
>Thankfully Tohdoh and Ohgi were quickly distracted as Suzaku went to greet them; this only left Kallen who quickly took the opportunity to slip away failing to notice that she now had a green haired pursuer.<p>

* * *

><p>Kallen was rather proud of herself, she had escaped from the crowd unnoticed... or so she thought before being swarmed by a throng of children. After taking some time to learn each of their names and introducing herself, she bean asking questions and the kids stumbled over each other trying to answer her questions.<p>

"Do any of you know Lelouch?" this question caused the most enthusiastic response as two of the kids, Nanashi and Edward grabbed her by the arms and dragged her behind her, explaining that Lelouch wasn't there because he broke his leg. Soon enough they stopped in front of a home that seemed to use a rusty knightmare for a roof.

Nanashi soon called out "Miss Rikuko! Is Lelou awake?"

"Yes dear. Come in he'll be glad to see you Nanashi." Kallen soon found herself being pushed through the doorway, only to confront a startled and suddenly defensive mother and her bedridden son. "Who the hell are you!?"

Thankfully Lelouch defused the situation "Did you come in that Airship? Did you?"

"Yes I did. Your friend here insisted on bringing me here to see you... Lelouch? I'm Kallen Kozuki"

"From the Guren? Awesome! You knew Zero? He must've been so cool!"

"Yeah... He was. Mrs. Rikuko? I assume you were a Black Knight?"

"Yes Ma'am. Officer Cadet Rikuko Jenkins nee Asakura." The woman said as she snapped to attention.

"I'd like to speak with you Cadet Jenkins, I'd like another perspective."

* * *

><p>Lelouch was in a very sour mood; in the time it took him to drag the cart up the slope to <em>his <em>cave the Black Knights had landed and Suzaku and C.C. had probably made it back and were waiting in the wings to distract the unpleasant reminders of the past who were doubtlessly aboard. 'It is inevitable that one will find me.' With that thought in mind Lelouch picked a small flask from the cart before pulling it into the cave, There was no way he would deal with this sober.

After unloading the cart, and accidentally breaking one of the flasks Lelouch sat on the floor, his back against the cracked entrance to the thought elevator. If he needed to he would escape into C's world... but only if it he was confronted. He shuddered remembering the pain and suffering the last time he went in.

* * *

><p>"Thank you cadet, I am very grateful for the perspective." Kallen said before glancing at Lelouch who was happily chatting with his friends. "I'm sorry Cadet, but I'm curious, Why'd you and Leeroy name your son Lelouch."<p>

This caught Lelouch's attention "That's easy Mama and Papa named me after the Cave Wizard!"

"Lelouch! That's disrespectful! How many times have I told you not to refer to Kannushi Lamperouge like that!"

* * *

><p>AN: Sorry that it took so long for me to publish anything new but I have been busy this past year. It probably isn't anywhere near my usual standard but I'm rather out of practice. please leave a review. I want feedback.


End file.
